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Inequality of Opportunity in Sub-Saharan Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Paolo Brunori

    (University of Bari)

  • Flaviana Palmisano

    (University of Luxembourg)

  • Vito Peragine

    (University of Bari)

Abstract
In the last decades inequality of opportunity has been extensively studied by economists, on the assumption that, in addition to being normatively undesirable, it can be related to low potential for growth. In this paper we evaluate inequality of opportunity in 11 Sub-Saharan Africa countries. According to our results, the portion of total inequality which can be attributed to exogenous circumstances is between 30% and 40% for the generality of countries considered. We also find a positive association between total consumption inequality and inequality of opportunity and we study the di?erent sources of unequal opportunities. Finally, we address a number of methodological issues that typically arise when measuring inequality of opportunity with imperfect data, which is the typical case in developing countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Paolo Brunori & Flaviana Palmisano & Vito Peragine, 2015. "Inequality of Opportunity in Sub-Saharan Africa," SERIES 08-2015, Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza - Università degli Studi di Bari "Aldo Moro", revised Dec 2015.
    • Handle: RePEc:bai:series:series_wp_08-2015
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    File URL: http://www.seriesworkingpapers.it/RePEc/bai/series/SERIES_WP_08-2015.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Kartseva, Marina & Kuznetsova, Polina, 2020. "Is income inequality fair in Russia? Inequality of opportunity and income inequality," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 58, pages 5-31.
    2. Paolo Brunori & Vito Peragine & Laura Serlenga, 2019. "Upward and downward bias when measuring inequality of opportunity," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 52(4), pages 635-661, April.
    3. Balwant Singh Mehta & Siddharth Dhote & Ravi Srivastava, 2023. "Decomposition of Inequality of Opportunity in India: An Application of Data-Driven Machine Learning Approach," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 66(2), pages 439-469, June.
    4. Kristof Bosmans & Z. Emel Öztürk, 2021. "Measurement of inequality of opportunity: A normative approach," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 19(2), pages 213-237, June.
    5. Guenther, Isabel & Tetteh-Baah, Samuel Kofi, 2019. "The impact of discrimination on redistributive preferences and productivity: experimental evidence from the United States," VfS Annual Conference 2019 (Leipzig): 30 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall - Democracy and Market Economy 203652, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    6. Pérez-Mesa, David & Marrero, Gustavo A. & Darias-Curvo, Sara, 2021. "Child health inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa," MPRA Paper 108801, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. International Energy Agency & International Renewable Energy Agency & United Nations Statistics Division & World Bank & World Health Organization, "undated". "Tracking SDG 7," World Bank Publications - Reports 33822, The World Bank Group.
    8. Marc Fleurbaey & Vito Peragine & Xavier Ramos, 2017. "Ex post inequality of opportunity comparisons," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 49(3), pages 577-603, December.
    9. Abebe Shimeles & Tiguene Nabassaga, 2018. "Why Is Inequality High in Africa?," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 27(1), pages 108-126.
    10. David Pérez-Mesa & Gustavo A. Marrero & Sara Darias-Curvo, 2020. "Child health inequality and opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers 557, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    11. Paolo Brunori & Flaviana Palmisano & Vitorocco Peragine, 2015. "Inequality of Opportunity During the Great Recession in Uganda," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2015-039, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    12. Leopoldo Cabrera & Gustavo A. Marrero & Juan Gabriel Rodríguez & Pedro Salas-Rojo, 2021. "Inequality of Opportunity in Spain: New Insights from New Data," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 237(2), pages 153-185, June.
    13. Maurizio Bussolo & Daniele Checchi & Vito Peragine, 2018. "The long term evolution of inequality of opportunity," LIS Working papers 730, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    14. Elodie Douarin & Tomasz Mickiewicz, 2022. "Is the post-communist transition over?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 494-494, June.
    15. Paul Hufe & Andreas Peichl & Daniel Weishaar, 2019. "Lower and Upper Bounds of Inequality of Opportunity in Emerging Economies," ifo Working Paper Series 301, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    16. Monica P. Lambon-Quayefio & Robert D. Osei & Abena D. Oduro & Isaac Osei Akoto, 2020. "Understanding the relationship between Consumption Inequality, Inequality of Opportunity and Education Outcomes in Ghana," Working Paper 7fb837eb-0c6e-4b0e-973b-7, Agence française de développement.
    17. Pau Insa-Sánchez, 2021. "Inequality of Opportunity in Access to Secondary Education in 19th Century," Documentos de Trabajo (DT-AEHE) 2106, Asociación Española de Historia Económica.
    18. Markus Jäntti & Milly Isingoma Nalukwago & Ronald Waiswa, 2022. "Income distribution in Uganda based on tax registers: what do top incomes say?," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2022-6, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    19. Carlos Gradín & Gabriela Zapata-Román, 2024. "Unpacking inequality of opportunity in Chile: the role of birth circumstances using a Shapley decomposition," Working Papers 676, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    20. Flaviana Palmisano & Vito Peragine & Federico Biagi, 2019. "Inequality of opportunity in tertiary education in Europe," JRC Research Reports JRC118543, Joint Research Centre.
    21. Seungwoo Han, 2022. "Identifying the roots of inequality of opportunity in South Korea by application of algorithmic approaches," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-10, December.
    22. Paolo Brunori & Flaviana Palmisano & Vito Peragine, 2015. "Inequality of opportunity during the great recession in Uganda," WIDER Working Paper Series 039, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    23. Monserrat Serio, 2021. "Desempeño educativo de los estudiantes en Argentina: Una mirada a la desigualdad de oportunidades del sistema educativo a partir de su medición y descomposición," Working Papers 86, Red Nacional de Investigadores en Economía (RedNIE).
    24. Flaviana Palmisano & Federico Biagi & Vito Peragine, 2022. "Inequality of Opportunity in Tertiary Education: Evidence from Europe," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 63(3), pages 514-565, May.
    25. Tetteh-Baah, Samuel Kofi & Günther, Isabel, 2020. "The impact of gender and ethnic discrimination on redistribution and productivity," VfS Annual Conference 2020 (Virtual Conference): Gender Economics 224633, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Consumption inequality; Equality of opportunity; Sub-Saharan Africa;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General

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